Belarus
'Basics' There are these networks operating in Belarus: *'MTS' МТС (owned by Beltelecom & MTS Russia) *'A1' (formerly Velcom, owned by Telekom Austria Group) *'Life':) (mostly owned by Turkcell) *for 4G/LTE: [beCloud '''(partly state-owned, providing only 4G/LTE, for all providers above)] Many people in Belarus carry two mobiles, one with an MTS and the other with a A1SIM card to avoid paying for more expensive cross-network calls. Life is in 3rd place with a lower coverage but very good prices. 2G is on 900 and 1800 Mhz, 3G on 900 and 2100 Mhz. In 2016 the two major operators cover 53%, which has been extended to 97% in the meantime. 4G/LTE has started in 2015. A 4th state-owned provider called '''beCloud has a monopoly license for 15 years and is building up the 4G/LTE network on 1800 and 2600 MHz (bands 3 and 7), which is marketed by the private operators. MTS has been lauching its 4G/LTE marketing in 2015, life:) followed in 2016 and A1in 2019. BeCloud's 4G/LTE serivices are available to over 63% of Belarusians, including 100% of the country’s urban population, but rare on the countryside in 2019. The two major operators sell visitor or tourist SIMs that can be purchased and used without any registration. Regulations It's forbidden to buy a SIM card in Belarus without showing your passport. All operators require this by the law. Be aware that some shops don't know how to deal with foreign (not Belarusian nor Russian) passports. Currency In July 2016 the currency was denominated and the new Belarusian ruble was introduced. They took away four 0s and 1 new ruble is now worth the same as 10,000 old rubles (BYR). From 2017 only the new Belarusian ruble (BYN) is valid. Therefore all prices given in this article are in new Belarusian rubles (BYN) now. EU roaming Be aware that Belarus is not part of the EU, nor the EEA, where since June 2017 new international roaming rules have been enforced. Roaming rates on most European SIM cards are not capped or regulated in Belarus and can be much higher than anywhere else in Europe. So better buy a local SIM in the country instead. 'MTS' (МТС) MTS (or МТС in Belarusian "Мабільныя ТэлеСістэмы") is a joint venture co-owned by state owned Beltelecom and Russian owned MTS and the leading provider in Belarus. Its network coverage is 98% on 2G and 95% on 3G: 2G 3G and 4G coverage map. 4G/LTE reselling of beCloud started in 2015 and gained 1 million users by 2017. In 2018 it covers 180 towns in the country by 4G together with beCloud. SIMs cards on all tariffs expire after 180 days of non-use. You can keep it alive by sending a roaming SMS or a web text from MTS's web site. Since July 2017, all tariffs except for the tourist tariffs and a children's tariff have roaming activated at the time the SIM is purchased. To top-up you can buy vouchers or do it online by internatl. credit card (VISA, MasterCard). 'Visitor plans' MTS has different visitor plans that don't require a registration with the authorities in Belarus, but you are still required to show your passport when buying the SIM card. Although these tariff offer pretty good rates, they don't allow international roaming, making it harder to keep the SIM card active after leaving Belarus. The visitor SIM card is sold in their stores called MTS Centres (Центр МТС) (location mapand list in English) with the same credit. Tourists arriving in the country are allowed to choose between two tariffs: * Супер max (Super Max) ' * 'Гасцявы 30 (Guest 30) 'this plan was discontinued for new activation in 2019 'Супер max (Super Max) : 'This tariff is at 17.50 BYR per month with a subscription fee of 22.50 BYR. It comes with unlimited YouTube, VKontakte, Instagram, Facebook and other social media, unlimited domestic calls and 15 GB of data. All overuse is at 0.047 BYR per MB. MTS Belarus has introduced a seasonal promotion aimed at foreign tourists. New customers connecting to the Super Max tariff are being offered free unlimited mobile data services during the first month of use. You can add unlimited data for one day for 3 BYR by entering *746# 'Гасцявы 30 (Guest 30): Guest 30 has 2 GB for the 1st month included and 1,000 on-net minutes at 13.86 BYR. Data allowance guest down to 1 GB in the second month of use. Regular data packages (see below) can be added for extra data. Overuse is 0.0445 BYR/MB. discontinued for new activations. 'Other tariffs' To get other tariffs, you need to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. A stamp by your hotel on the back of the immigration card in your passport is sufficient, and this is routinely done by hotels upon check-in. Some MTS shops, particularly outside Minsk, might insist that you instead take the Guest tariff with a foreign passport, even if you are properly registered, so be prepared to demand a second opinion. Though they may give better rates, some Russian language skills are mandatory to manage the SIM. Most voice and data SIM cards have these daily options for data: * БIТ (BIT): 250 MB per day for 8.95 BYR per month, activation: *741# * СуперБIТ''' (SuperBIT): 500 MB per day for 16.75 BYR per month, activation: *742# * Безліміт VIP (Unlimited VIP): 1 GB per day for 29.90 BYR per month, activation: *743# All these packages above are labeled "unlimited" as they are throttled to 256 Kbps after having reached quota. This is reset at the end of the day. All packages auto-renew. To stop send code *74?*0#. Their cheapest data plan is simply called Internet (інтэрнэт), aimed at tablets and modems, but has voice and text too at high rates. You can change to this tariff by typing *111*13#. It doesn't have a monthly fee, but you need to add one of these packages for 30 days (overuse is charged at 0.02 BYN per MB): * Mini - 10 GB: 8.36 BYN, activation: *534#, deactivation: *534*0# * Midi - 20 GB: 10.90 BYN, activation: *535#, deactivation: *535*0# * Maxi - 30 GB: 14.95 BYN, activation: *536#, deactivation: *536*0# To know the remaining megabytes use code *558#. for the remaining credit code *100#. '''Disabling useless options Those options are enabled by default and cost useless money: * "Тонинг"/"Мелодия дня"(= ring-back tone): 0.72BYN per month. Disabling has a one-off cost. To disable *300# (for 0.006 BYN) or text "off" to number 300 (for 0.028 BYN) * Voicemail: To disable enter ##002#. * "Будь в курсе" (= spam message): This service is free, but if you press "OK" in any of the spam messages, you'll have to pay. To disable enter *987*0#. * Possibility to go to negative credit. You don't want to owe money to mobile operator. To disable negative credit and be fully prepaid enter *150*0#. 'More info' *APN: internet.mts.by *Username and Password: mts *Website in English (showing only a part of the offers): *Website in Belarusian and Russian (showing all offers): http://by.mts.by/ 'A1 '(previously called Velcom) A1 is the strongest competitor of MTS in Belarus with almost the same 2G/3G coverage: A1 2G 3G 4G coverage map. About 76% of the population are covered by 4G/LTE in 2020. In 2019 Velcom phased in the A1 brand of its parent A1 Telekom Austria Group. The operator announced that rebranding from Velcom to A1 is gradual. In summer this transition seems to be completed and marketing is now under the new A1 brand though you might still spot their old Velcom sign. In 2019 A1 has finally announced the launch of 4G/LTE services in the city of Minsk and parts of the Minsk region, using the common infrastructure of national LTE access provider beCloud. Coming more than three years after rivals MTS and life. 'Tourist plan' A1's prepaid card is still called Privet (Привет meaning hello/hi). Like MTS, A1 has a tourist plan that doesn't require the customer to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. Their new Tourist Plan is sold for 10 BYN at their service centers (Фирменные центры) (locator in English). 9.90 BYN of this are deducted for a 5 GB data pack and 50 domestic minutes to all networks and 50 minutes on-net for 7 days. The remaining 5.10 BYN can be used to purchase more services. Data by default is 0.4425 BYN per MB. Another option is sold for 24.90 BYN will give you 20 GB for 30 days (ask at their store while purchasing SIM) For extra data you can purchase another 2 GB plus 100 mins for 10 days at 9.90 BYN by *127*1#. The SIM expires one year after the last top-up. Check balance by *120# and data balance by *127*2#. To switch language into English dial 150 (free of charge) and then 5. Other tariffs To get other tariffs, you need to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. Though they may give better rates, some Russian language skills are mandatory to manage the SIM. They are too complicated to show them all and many visitors will stick to the visitor tariff without being registered. For data only aimed at tablets and modems they sell the Privet Internet+ plan for 1.99 BYN with 500 MB per week. These two packages valid for 30 days can be added for data: To activate type *121*1*6# Speed is up to 42 Mbps where 3G is available. To check the remaining data balance enter *120*3#. 'Disabling useless options' Those options are enabled by default and cost useless money. * "Мелофон" (= ring-back tone): 0.04 BYN/day (1.2 BYN/month). To disable enter *424*5*1#. * Voicemail: to disable enter *441*1#. * "Что нового" (= spam messages): The service is free, but if you press "OK" in any of the spam messages, you'll have to pay. Go to SIM toolkit and choose «Что нового», «Настройки», «Сервис включен», «Отключить» and «Подтвердить». * Possibility to go to negative credit: you don't want to owe money to mobile operator. To disable negative credit and be fully prepaid enter *145*9#. 'More info' *APN: data (for tourist line) *Website in English (for A1) *Website in English (for Privet) 'life:)' Turkish owned life:) is the smallest operator in Belarus. As its network is more limited, make a network scan before you buy a SIM card: Its 3G is still more limited to population centers as the 900 MHz frequency is not yet employed. Where available, they give data at better rates, but at a lower coverage: 2G/3G/4G coverage map.. 4G/LTE reselling of beCloud by life has started in 2016, but can be used on special data packages shown below. You may need to change to a new SIM card, if it's not yet LTE-enabled. 'Tourist Tariffs' They have two visitor oriented tariffs for which you need to be registered with the authorities in Belarus. A stamp by your hotel on the back of the immigration card in your passport is sufficient, and this is routinely done by hotels upon check-in. Both starter packs are sold in their shops called salons (locator) at 2.50 BYN with 1.50 BYN credit loaded. *'Start' *'World in your hand' The "World in your hand" SIM gives discounted international call rates and is aimed at visitors, while on the "start" ''pack',' which is their regular domestic SIM card, domestic calls and texts are cheaper. You can activate the same data packs on both plans though. Change tariffs by *110#. 'Data feature packages' For both plans/starters default internet rate is a high 0.70 BYN per MB outside of packages. * daily packs for 24 hours: ** 250 MB: 1.50 BYN ** 1 GB: 1.90 BYN ** 2 GB: 2.90 BYN ** 3 GB: 3.80 BYN * weekly packs for 7 days: ** 250 MB: 2.10 BYR ** 2 GB: 3.80 BYR ** 3 GB: 4.40 BYR Packages auto-renew. To deactivate. type *110# and choose daily internet (Интернет на сутки). On all plans these monthly packs can be activated, which have the same price as for local tariffs: To check the balance type *100# and *105#. All packages marked (x3) are tripled in size for the first month after subscription. All packages auto-renew. To stop, dial *110#. '''Disabling useless options' Those options may be enabled by default and cost useless money: * Subscriber unavailable: to disable enter *120*5*3# * Voicemail: to disable enter *120#. * Who called?: to disable enter *120# * automatic cost information after each debit (at 0.60 BYN per month): disable by *101# 'More info' *APN: internet.life.com.by *Website in Russian or Belarusian: http://life.com.by/ Category:Country Category:MTS Category:Europe Category:12/19